This is a really cool, interesting, and remarkably well designed apartment in Barcelona. It actually reminds me a bit of the super well designed hotel room I stayed in at the Mitsui Garden Hotel in the Ginza District of Tokyo. The space was tiny, but drawers were built into the beds and walls in such a way as to make it feel incredibly open and accessible.

My friend Adam’s niece Sarah is about to graduate from NYU’s Film School and made this documentary about traveling for sixty days with her friend Greg and staying in a different stranger’s home every night.

It looks like an interesting, exciting, and heartwarming project, as well as a remarkable example of what is possible when you’re willing to really embrace the uncertain in travel.

This is pretty hilarious. I’d skipped watching it a few times, mostly because I find all the Star Wars mashups a bit tedious, but this is actually quite funny, especially if you’ve read Jean-Paul Sartre or other 20th century Continental philosophers.

Four episodes into the first season Game of Thrones is really hitting its stride. The plot lines are becoming a bit clearer, with fewer moments where only people who have read the book would know what is taking place. More importantly, the characters themselves are starting to shine. The actors playing Jon Snow, Arya Stark, Tyrion Lannister, and Daenerys Targaryen are all doing an outstanding job. Even the actors playing Sansa Stark and Joffrey Baratheon – two of the least likeable characters – are succeeding in making their characters really unlikable.

Moreover, as Alyssa Rosenberg points out, Game of Thrones is succeeding in portraying the many ways in which George R.R. Martin’s novel rejects traditional fantasy constructs for how societies deal dynamically with people who don’t fit traditional roles with ease.

But one of the things the Game of Thrones universe does best is to shake up the fantastical expectation that it’s reasonably easy for unusual people and people with unusual ambitions to make a place for themselves in rigid societies. The show insists that it’s difficult enough to fit into pre-approved roles if they’re available to you, and even harder to find a place for yourself if you’re unlucky enough not to slot into a pre-approved role at all.

I think this is really right. Add this to the brutality of Martin’s world (demonstrated last night with a violent and bloody depth at an otherwise regal jousting tournament) and the HBO series is doing well to preserve some of the key aspects to Martin’s unique narrative.

The only thing that makes me disappointed is with how fast-paced the HBO series is. We’re already about 40% through the first season. Yes, good, interesting, dramatic narrative threads are being drawn out. But they’re being constructed with far less depth and complexity than the books. This isn’t terribly surprising, but it’s somewhat sad to see things left out from such a robust narrative. I don’t blame the folks at HBO for this. I imagine an truly close dramatic translation of A Game of Thrones to television would require 30-40 hours of film time. Ten hours requires cutting a lot. At the end of the day, people who like the Game of Thrones series should absolutely still read Martin’s books.

Dan Patterson of ABC News Radio has a really interesting interview with Andrew Hyde, a tech entrepreneur who has sold all of his possessions and traveled for two years. He now is back in the US, but travels with only fifteen possessions. The audio of the interview is here:

It looks like his count is more by item type than individual, which is obviously not a big deal given how extreme his minimalism is, but the photo above looks like he has:

Backpack

2 long sleeve shirts (plus wearing 1)

2 pairs socks (plus wearing 1)

T-shirt

Jacket

Shorts

2 underwear (plus wearing 1)

Shoes

iPhone

Camera

Sunglasses

Wallet/passport

Toiletry Kit

Towel

Chargers

Laptop

For what it’s worth, while I can’t really imagine living permanently with this number of things, this sounds like a pretty perfect packing list for travel. This is only slightly more stuff than I had with me when I did my No Baggage Challenge for Charity with Scottevest gear. The think which looks most immediately appealing to me about Andrew’s kit is that it looks like there are a lot of natural fibers in his clothing. My biggest problem with quick-drying travel apparel is that it’s mostly polyester or polypropylene, which while convenient, isn’t as comfortable as good old fashioned cotton. If I could find a set of travel clothing that was more reliant on breathable, natural fabrics, I’d probably be a happier traveler.

Anyway, listen to the interview with Andrew Hyde – he’s clearly an interesting person who’s found a great model for livable minimalism and technomadia.